ESPN apologizes for Michael Sam shower report

By Will Brinson | NFL Writer

August 27, 2014 9:56 AM ET

A report (above) on SportsCenter Tuesday featured a discussion of Michael Sam's showering habits; specifically a defensive player told Josina Anderson he believed Sam was purposely avoiding showering with other members of the team.

It went over about as well as you'd expect -- Rams defensive end Chris Long fired a 140-character missile across the network's bow -- and on Wednesday ESPN apologized.

"ESPN regrets the manner in which we presented our report," the network said in a statement. "Clearly yesterday we collectively failed to meet the standards we have set in reporting on LGBT-related topics in sports."

Love the "standards we have set" line there. It's like the back-handed compliment version of an apology; a very slick PR move.

You know, the reality is the line from one of Sam's teammates might potentially be "news" (even though it's not surprising for at least one person to have that opinion). But trying to dig up info on Michael Sam's showering habits and turn it into a segment is just in poor taste.

Fortunately ESPN realized that. Unfortunately they realized it after the fact.